Munktiki letting you choose the colors you want. What do you think?

Munktiki lately has been letting you choose the color you would like your mug to be. Then they custom make your mug and ship it to you. Like in this picture for their latest Trader Vic mug.

As I am sure many of you know, with many new mugs you purchase the mug and in the description line you write out what color you would like your mug to be. They are doing this (I assume)to cut down on mugs that don't get purchased, so that they have less waste and only sell the mugs customers want. So your mug is made to order, and shipped to you when it is ready which seems like a couple weeks from my experience.

My concerns are:

That the wait time is getting longer on the mugs.

That everyone might get the exact same colored mugs (Raw Lava being popular) which may in the future decrease the value of the mugs.

I have no problem waiting a bit longer for the mugs, I am patient and Munktiki always comes through. Also I fully understand that this will be a way for them to make more profits and cut down on their losses, which I fully support.

I do love Munktiki mugs and I will continue to purchase them no matter what. In no way am I trying to bash them by this post, I was just wondering what other peoples opinions would be on this topic.

I love what they're doing.

I think it makes a lot of sense. If you're looking to get a mug as an investment (probably perform better than the stock market these days), I'd probably pick up a couple of colors to try and get some other popular choices that didn't sell as well.

I think it is a good idea in general. I could see it devaluing a mug but am not too worried about it because they may not be the best for investment.

As an aside, it may make for more interest in odd or unpopular glazes as people try to get the rarest version. There are several comic books from the 1990s-2000s where the #2 issue is the desirable or rare issue because everyone saved the first issue but few bought the follow up.

gabbahey

[ Edited by: gabbahey 2013-09-12 14:58 ]

I don't buy newly made mugs to flip them down the road..that is what I do with vintage mugs that I know are worth a great deal that I find out in the thrift/antique stores.

I buy mugs directly from manufacturers like Munktiki and Tiki Farm because I want that mug in my collection.

Munktiki is a premier mug maker and they are rad guys to boot--good on them for doing what makes the most sense for their business and I don't feel bad for people who won't be able to buy one of their mugs and resell it for double/triple the price upon receiving it.

That way of thinking is pretty lame in my opinion anyways.

As far as longer wait times...Munktiki doesn't make their mugs in China. I am willing to wait for quality.

[ Edited by: SandraDee 2013-09-12 14:31 ]

[ Edited by: SandraDee 2013-09-12 14:32 ]

I really like that I don't have to fight for the color variation that I want, so I think it is great. And the wait doesn't bother me at all.

Cool, seems like a good topic. It got people talking.

Just to clarify, I am just playing devils advocate here. I have hundreds of mugs but I have never sold a single one and I agree that it is not cool to buy mugs just to sell them for more. I think they should be used for their intended purpose, drinking tropical drinks out of. I am not worried about the value that they hold, just the value they have to me. I fully support Munktiki and anything they can do to better their business.

Does anyone feel that this might take away from the "fun" or "surprise factor" in finding that cool color you wanted?

I always thought I was lucky when I could get the color I wanted before anyone else, but it is also cool to to just be able to say, "I want this color."

Unless Munktiki starts painting all of their creations in "dirty beige stucco" I'm happy with whatever color I get. Orange is my favorite though. :)

On 2013-09-12 13:09, lunavideogames wrote:

My concerns are:

That the wait time is getting longer on the mugs.

That everyone might get the exact same colored mugs (Raw Lava being popular) which may in the future decrease the value of the mugs.

When i first read this comment it immediately ruffled my feathers but when i read this;

On 2013-09-12 16:28, lunavideogames wrote:

Just to clarify, I am just playing devils advocate here. I have hundreds of mugs but I have never sold a single one and I agree that it is not cool to buy mugs just to sell them for more. I think they should be used for their intended purpose, drinking tropical drinks out of. I am not worried about the value that they hold, just the value they have to me. I fully support Munktiki and anything they can do to better their business.

Does anyone feel that this might take away from the "fun" or "surprise factor" in finding that cool color you wanted?

I always thought I was lucky when I could get the color I wanted before anyone else, but it is also cool to to just be able to say, "I want this color."

I calmed back down. You are lucky lunavideogames. :D

My interest in Tiki and Tiki culture began with the purchase of a Munktiki mug around 9 years ago and in that time the way that they sell their mugs has changed a few times, and i have to say that i'm in two minds of how they are doing it at the moment and also prior to this way.

I know, and i'm sure others do too, that they were having a lot of problems with people buying several mugs at once and then flipping them on eBay at inflated prices and those that are TRUE collectors were missing out on mugs they really wanted because of these 'people'. (I prefer to use the term scumbags.) Obviously they had to do something to make it fair on the real collectors and limiting purchases to one per customer for the day made sense and is a good way to go about it.

Since i first began collecting, Tiki has become far more popular as has the desirability of Munktiki's mugs so therefore if you are not online when the mugs are released for sale you ARE going to miss out. And even if you are online, there is so much traffic that the system crashes and by the time the page reloads all the mugs are gone.

As lunavideogames mentioned allowing customers to choose their own colours eliminates the problem of Munktiki being stuck with colours that are not as popular, or as well liked as others and by going about it this way they are pretty much guaranteed to sell every one no matter what, even if it ends up that they might only make the mugs in two or three colours out of all the options available because the majority of peoples favourite colour might be blue, for example. Which, as a mug maker myself, is great, as that actually speeds up the process as you can then finish several, dozens even, in one go as opposed to constantly stopping and having to change colours, clean equipment, etc. This also ties in with his comment about the wait time. Ceramics is a very time consuming process and things always take longer than you expect.

One of the things i do not like about this way of doing things is that it can be extremely difficult to decide on a colour and as i mentioned, these days, by the time you have worked out what colour you really want the allotted amount of mugs up for sale could have sold and you might miss out. At least when all the mugs were released in the same colour if you were able to put one in your basket and checkout you were guaranteed a mug, even if it was the same as 99 other peoples. But is that really a bad thing?

Personally i would rather add the few mugs i don't have that were only released in one colour in a design i really like as opposed to another design i might not care for that much just because it's a one of a kind. My point here is that i'm sure that there are people out there who miss out on their first colour choice and then 'settle' for whatever else is left or available just to have that mug, regardless of whether or not they really like the design, or only like the design in a particular colour.

On a side note, here is my wall of Munktiki mugs (including various others on a couple of rows on the top which were added to the extension i HAD to build to this cabinet a few weeks ago). All the recent purchases of their mugs i've made are in the lower left corner. There are quite a few recent ones that i missed out on that i would have liked but finances, lack of room and also the aforementioned issue of the mugs selling soooo fast that by the time i got online they were gone.

Swizzle Kingstiedye who was a really active member/collector for years had a whole Munktiki room in his house with every mug they ever came out with practically. It was awe inspiring.

I always love seeing your collection and am jealous that you don't have to worry about earthquakes where you live :wink:

On 2013-09-13 08:51, SandraDee wrote:
I always love seeing your collection and am jealous that you don't have to worry about earthquakes where you live :wink:

I second everything SandraDee said. Nice collection. I have to keep mine locked in glass cabinets secured to the wall. It gets tough to see/display them. The last 20 or so mugs I purchased are not even displayed yet since I don't want the shelves to break.

Interesting post.

I know, and I'm sure others do too, that they were having a lot of problems with people buying several mugs at once and then flipping them on eBay at inflated prices and those that are TRUE collectors were missing out on mugs they really wanted because of these 'people'.

I think this is universal....no matter what your interest (tiki, antiques, coins, etc...) there are always those looking to make a quick buck who have no aesthetic (or other) interest in the items they are selling other than the profit. Frustrating for any collector. However, I suppose if there is any positive side i can say I've suffered enough defeats that when i do manage to get something i really want, it feels great.

As to having a difficult choice, well.... I guess all i can say is that if a collector is having a hard time deciding, I suppose it stands to reason the mug flippers would too...if they aren't interested in tiki except for profit, they may not necessarily know what colors will be most coveted and they may be less likely to target a custom-issued tiki.

I'm kind of all over the place with my collection. If I like a design I might settle for a different color... I love the original pele version of the augie colon for example, but I ordered a custom and though not exact, I know I'll be happy with that. I have no problem ordering custom mugs and waiting and I think it is great to have that option. However other mugs.... if I don't get the color I want, then I'm not interested. All about choices.... And that makes it more fun for me....There are plenty of mugs out there that i don't get an option on (win some, lose some.... keeps it challenging) and so it is nice to also have a few out there that can be customized and unique.

Here is my Munktiki collection. Not as amazing as Swizzles but I like the ones I have. I might have missed one or two and I am waiting on two in the mail. I also have each of the wall vases. Didn't get the turtle head puffer fish. I have wanted to find the Trader Morts mug for quite some time. I wouldn't mind a bunch of others. I have been a Munktiki fan for a long time.

I find myself checking their website a couple times a day. I have found some great mugs randomly posted. I like that they send out emails, but I might like it more when I randomly happen upon a mug that they just posted and didn't tell anyone about.

Do you guys like notifications or are you diligently looking at their site everyday like me?

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2013-09-14 12:16 ]